NYC's Safest & Most Dangerous Neighborhoods

After our co-founder (and longtime NYC resident) Alicia's unfortunate firsthand experience with being mugged in NYC, the AddressReport data team decided to conduct an extensive analysis of NYPD crime rates for every neighborhood in New York (that's approximately 250 neighborhoods).

To rank the best and worst New York neighborhoods for crime & safety, we considered the following factors:

Total crime

Violent crime (robbery, assault, rape, and murder)

Non-violent crime (grand larceny, burglary, and grand theft auto)

Neighborhood population (for per-capita rankings)

The results of our analysis, presented below, reveal the safest and most dangerous neighborhoods to live in across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx.

Note: This analysis looks at crime rates on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis. To see a detailed report of crimes statistics and crimes committed at any specific NYC building or block, you can check out our borough pages for Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, or the Bronx and look up any address for which you want to see crime rates.

The 20 NYC Neighborhoods with Lowest Violent Crime Rates

These neighborhoods have the lowest rates of violent crime per capita across New York City:

You're probably surprised to learn that of the 20 safest neighborhoods in New York, the borough of Queens actually leads the pack with 9 neighborhoods, Manhattan has 6 (including 3 out of the 5 safest neighborhoods), the Bronx has 4, and Brooklyn has only 1 neighborhood that ranks.

If you haven't heard of many of these neighborhoods, there's a good reason for that: for the most part, they tend to be quiet and laid-back, with little in the way of nightlife, entertainment, or tourist attractions (alcohol, nightlife, and tourists -- as we'll see below -- turn out to be an ideal mix for violent crime in New York).

The 20 NYC Neighborhoods with Highest Violent Crime Rates

These neighborhoods have the highest rates of violent crime per capita across New York City:

Looking at the list of the most dangerous neighborhoods, Brooklyn leads the way with 8, the Bronx comes in second with 7, Manhattan follows with 5, and Queens has zero of the top 20 most dangerous neighborhoods in NYC.

What particularly jumps out to us here? Well, remember what we said above about tourists and violent crime? It plays out in spades here, with the Theatre District / Times Square (a pit of never-ending tourists) ranking as crime central for Manhattan.

The Meatpacking District (known for its expensive restaurants, high-end nightclubs, and elite, members-only enclaves like the famous Soho House) also turns out to be the Manhattan neighborhood with the highest per capita rate of assault. Yet as anyone who has walked around the neighborhood could attest, the Meatpacking actually feels quite safe, so we believe the assault rate is probably less a symptom of resident-on-resident crime than it is a case of late-night drunken club-goer vs. drunken club-goer confrontations.

How to Look Up Crime Stats or Any Neighborhood, Block, or Address in NYC

If you're interested in seeing crime stats (along with bed bug reports, rat sightings, street / construction noise issues, and more) for any apartment building, condo, or co-op in New York, enter the address at AddressReport and scroll down to the "Crime Reports" section for that address page.